With the aim of incorporating a comprehensive plan for health in India the Planning Commission of India, under approval by the Prime Minister, constituted the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in October 2010. The mandate was to develop a framework for providing easily accessible and affordable health care to all Indians and suggesting a 10-year strategy going forward.

With technical support from the PHFI secretariat, the review process of the HLEG consisted of situational analyses, sifting through evidence and weighing options resulting in a report with recommendations for India to both reconfigure and strengthen its health system to achieve universal health coverage for its 1.2 billion citizens over the coming decade.

For the purposes of this report, the HLEG has adopted the following definition of Universal Health Coverage:

Ensuring equitable access for all Indian citizens, residents in any part of the country, regardless of the income level, social status, gender, caste or religion to affordable, accountable, appropriate health services of assured quality (promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative) as well as public health services addressing the wider determinants of health delivered to individuals and populations, with the government being the guarantor and enabler, although not necessarily the provider of health and related services.